Tema Wood Manufacturers Association builds capacity with COTVET support
A vital source of livelihood for most people and a good source of income for Ghana is her forest reserves.
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It follows therefore, that the forest is utilised and managed on a sustainable basis. This approach would make the forest and the resources therein eternally available for extraction and use to satisfy various needs.
A strong point in achieving this is to provide training in technical skills and management related to the processing, especially of the traditional and lesser used wood species which adorn Ghana's forests.
The development of the wood industry in Ghana depends largely on raising the skills levels of the workforce and the assurance that their skills are kept with the pace of technological changes through training and upgrade programmes.
Productivity increases through technological innovations, product development, and restructuring of the industry as a whole are bound to affect the levels and structure of employment. New technology transforms the job content and skill requirements of the workforce as well.
Obsolete skills
Naturally certain skills are becoming obsolete, thus modern industrial wood firms will require higher technical and managerial skills in order to remain relevant and competitive in the global marketplace.
In Ghana the timber industry has been making substantial contribution to the economy over the years and provides livelihood for over three million Ghanaians.
According to Global Industry Analysts, the global plywood market volume will reach almost 76 million cubic meters by 2015. Industry performance will be driven by global economic recovery and the rising use of plywood in end-use industries, such as the housing market. China currently dominates in the global plywood market, having made the shift from consumer to exporter due to demand from the US and Europe.
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Tema wood workers
The Tema Wood Manufacturers Association is a trade association with a membership of 109 wood workers and carpenters operating within the Tema and Ashaiman areas.
The association advocates an improved business environment for its members, support members to build capacity to compete effectively, and promote good relations between wood sellers and sawmill owners within the metropolis.
In the face of such ideals, the members lacked modern technical skills in quality control and preservation, finishing and design in construction, workplace safety and waste reduction.
In the words of Mr Maxwell Matthew Prempeh, president of the Association, this latent lack experienced by their members culminated in very low revenue as a result of the manufacture of sub-standard products which attract low patronage.
“We were unable to match up to imports from other countries because our finished products were not pleasing to the eye and also quite a number of our members were going out of business, as a result of the poor quality products,” he disclosed.
Memorandum
According to Mr Prempeh, they entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Wood Industries Training Centre in Kumasi for skills acquisition and presented their proposal to the Skills Development Fund (SDF) for funding.
After carefully scrutinising their proposal, SDF approved the group for a GH¢78,900 SDF grant with the Association providing the counterpart grant of GH¢8,900 for their members to acquire industry related and market driven skills upgrade training which will positively impact their businesses in areas where they will become highly competitive and profitable.
In expressing his gratitude to SDF for the intervention, the secretary of the Association and also a beneficiary of the training, Mr Nathaniel Valour Ofori pointed out that 100 members of the group received training in the areas of quality control and preservation, finishing, designing and construction, product costing, workplace safety and waste reduction, among a few.
Benefits of training
He pointed out that the training introduced them to certain aspects of costing, for instance, which they hitherto were not aware of, adding that “most of us estimate for just materials and labour without knowing about some indirect costs and coupled with the good quality of our products now, it is actually impacted our prices”.
The spokesman for the Association and beneficiary of the training, Mr Delali Amexo was full of praise for the SDF assistance, which he believes has been very timely, especially in the wake of the current shortage in electricity supply.
He touched on the issue of time and waste management as two of the strongest areas which he benefited most. In his view, even in the face of such power challenges, they are least bothered because to him, the SDF funded training has equipped him with the ability to structure and manage his time and that of his workers judiciously, resulting in improved growth.
Mr Amexo mentioned that the training also taught them how to put every bit of material to good use, “we have stopped giving the pieces of leftover wood we used to throw away or give to food sellers to use for firewood, because currently I, especially, put such pieces together to produce some amazing pieces of furniture that will blow your imagination”.
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The president of the Association also added that the SDF funded training had boosted his business such that he had experienced at least 12 per cent sales growth since and foresees a huge potential for further growth because the training had also equipped them with the opportunity to improve their finished products using imported chemicals, which the foreign companies use to enhance their finishing.